


Something That Changed

by queerymiracle



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Amnesia, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Identity Reveal, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post-Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Uncanny Valley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26853256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerymiracle/pseuds/queerymiracle
Summary: What if Marinette stopped Adrien from renouncing Plagg? What if they accidentally got to reveal themselves?°• Miraculous New York Special SPOILERS!! •°°• cross posted on and prompt from Tumblr! •°
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 7
Kudos: 70





	Something That Changed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pixigirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixigirl/gifts), [Fleur_de_Jasmin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_de_Jasmin/gifts).



Takes place after Adrien tries to give up his Miraculous, soon after he got a Cataclysm on Uncanny Valley. 

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Tears flowed down her cheeks. "Kitty, no..." she whispered. 

"Sorry, m'lady," Cat Noir vehemently replied. "I can't be the reason of anyone's death. But I did. I killed Uncanny. I-"

"Shut up, you!" Marinette wiped at her peepers furiously. "It was a mistake!"

"A big one," her kitty sounded at his all time low, like he has been the cause of an actual apocalypse. 

.... which he had.

Marinette clutched her throbbing head in her throbbing palm, her eyes and throat quite sore. She reminded herself to not be reminded of the horrifying incident, but oh, it took a hold of her. Those lifeless eyes that had once been a vibrant green flashed in her memory, and hell broke loose within her. Her palms rested on the wall between her and Cat Noir, or rather the boy behind the mask.

She tried to picture the broken hero, blonde and beautiful, cheerful eyes devoid of their usual humor. Without the mask was difficult, so she picked to picture the boy closest in appearance, Adrien - it made focusing a lot easier. It pained her, but it was definitely easier to comfort her cr- friend, than someone she didn't recognize the likes of, even though the "someone" was your very best friend. 

"No," she rested as firmly as she could without breaking down. "This is nothing- nothing- nothing compared to.." her voice trailed off as she remembered how she had been a prey of partner's wrath, lifeless, as a decaying statue. It was the stuff of her nightmares, and she didn't want that, neither to herself, nor to him.

"Nothing compared to?" Cat sounded genuinely curious. 

"You.. you would hate to know."

"My lady." His tone slowly grew dead serious. "You're worrying me."

"Well you're worrying me too," Marinette retorted. "Let's make a deal. You take back Plagg, and I'll tell you the tale of how you destroyed the world." she yelled on impulse. 

"That...." his voice faltered. ".. isn't a fair deal, Ladybug. It is more the reason why I should renounce my miraculous."

His words flipped a switch in Marinette's mind, and she lost her threads. "If you know about it, you could, I don't know, oh, IMPROVE, you damn cat!" Her teeth were gnashing as all the disappointment and sadness in her partner turned into pure blinding rage, her a mess of tears and disheveled hair. "You don't know how I felt when I saw you- you as an akuma, one capable of infinite destruction. You were sad, depressingly sad. I hated, hated that look on your face."

Cat Noir muttered a few incoherent words as his brain tried to catch up. "Uh.."

"Yes."

".. I am still a mistake, my lady. It was a mistake on the part of Master Fu to choose me. There could've been more capable holders for Plagg, more reliable partners for you." 

"Kid," a tiny voice interjected. She took it to be Plagg, judging from the little time they had spent before fighting Reflekdoll. "Kid, even if I have to swallow my pride and my cheese, I'll give you this - you're the best Cat Noir I ever had." 

Apparently the being never showed much sentiment toward her kitty, because there was a appreciative and pregnant pause for a significant time before Cat Noir replied. 

"Oh, Plagg," she pictured him holding the Kami in his soft- in his hands, not that they weren't soft or anything, she was sure - and the thought of it was wholesome, so she spared them a few moments. "... thank you, but-" 

"Please, kid." Could kwamis cry? His sounded dangerously close to weeping. "You can't do it. Pigtails, stop him!"

"I'm sorry, Plagg."

The black ring was slipped into her line of vision, slowly turning silver as its owner, a tanned hand, moved farther away. Marinette picked it up, unsure and unsatisfied, and looked carefully. 

Maybe thinking of Cat as Adrien had been a bad idea after all, for she bungled the miraculous for her friend's ring in her mind. His kwami floated over, subdued, and settled beside Tikki, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the whole ordeal. 

"Find a good holder for Plagg, my lady." Cat Noir said. "There's so many people I can think of, right off my head, who will be better and more amazing than me."

Marinette felt lost. When she snapped, she didn't suppose that would take this much of a toll on him. Still, she needed him to listen, if only for his sake.

"If Hawk Moth is in New York, " she started slowly. "He could be, the villain is unusual for Americans, as the President said, but don't you think it was familiar to you?"

"Oh my god." Marinette heard a thump. "It did."  
"... he could akumatize me in this state."

"Glad you caught on," she replied, only half-sarcastic.

Cat Noir was sobbing before she knew it. "I let you down everytime, my lady," he said. "You're too amazing and always learning from your mistakes. Let me do that. Let me correct myself. I'm not worthy of the Cat Miraculous. Nor of Plagg, nor you."

"You'll be doing it the wrong way, kitty," her words flew involuntarily. "I get you, but you'll be making a second mistake. I told you. We are an unstoppable TEAM. 'Ladybug' by itself doesn't sound half as good."

Cat seemed to be fallen into an awed quiet, but the silence was soon broken by a new voice. 

"Cat Noir. Ladybug." 

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On grounds of normalcy, Aeon scored zero. She wasn't even human, but she was happier than most. She had two mothers and a sister. A small, happy family. 

What she strongly had to be 'normal', though, were empathy and feelings - quite a feat for Majestia - and the feelings between Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng were too strong. She followed the trail of sadness that both of them currently projected and arrived on the scene. 

So. She was indeed correct. These kids who were barely her age - well, what she could pass for - were Ladybug and Cat Noir, two of the most famous superheroes after her own mother. 

"Cat Noir. Ladybug."

The two looked at her from two sides, simultaneously, and with similar surprised expressions. Aeon wanted to laugh, they were good amusement material. And so, so in sync.

"Uncanny Valley!" Marinette gasped. 

"Marinette. Adrien." She shot them a confused look. "What are you doing here? Adrien... uh, did you give that ring to Marinette?" She gasped dramatically. 

As the implication set in on them, the poor kids looked more mortified than astonished that she personally knew them. 

"A-A-Adrien?" Marinette stuttered. "Holy shit..."

"Hold up-" Adrien muttered. "How is Marinette Ladybug and.. how do you know that..."

Aeon slumped her shoulders. They didn't know? This made setting them even harder, if this sudden reveal led to even more complicated feelings and scenes. She decided on answering him first.

"I see what many people don't... I'm an AI, and that's how I deduced Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the worthy heroine Ladybug. As for you, Adrien Agreste, it's the same. As for me, I'm someone you've already met."

Aeon called off her transformation, as she became regular old Aeon again, but it was rather gratifying to see their eyes widen (again in sync. Aeon wondered if they were always so synchronized like that...). 

Marinette stepped ahead first. "Aeon...." she started, her eyes darting back to her love. "We aren't supposed to know each other's true identities... it messes with our thought process and distracts us. The last time this probably happened.." she took a deep breath. "I've said it once and I'll say it again, it ended up being the worst thing."

Aeon detected genuine fear in the girl's voice, she wondered what possibly could've happened. Fortunately, Marinette seemed to read her mind.

"I'll tell you about it."

... Aeon was horrified at what the girl had to go through. Judging by Adrien's face, he was even more so. He maintained a good distance from his friend after she revealed, but looked out to her with a longing, as if craving to get closer. 

"I'm... so sorry... I don't have words..." he was well and truly shocked.

"Save it," Marinette pushed her bangs out of her sweaty face. "I don't EVER want to recount this. Ever."

"Marinette..." Adrien reached out. "This means... you loved me?"

Dead serious, Marinette was pretty intimidating when she had to be. "I am," she admitted. "I tried moving on, but apparently I've hit rock bottom with you." 

Poor Adrien. Aeon felt a little sorry for the guy as he looked torn between his tearful eyes and beaming smile. Both were wiped right off his face though, when Marinette said, "we shouldn't remember this incident, either," in a this-matter-is-over tone.

Adrien protested, telling that they both could finally have who they wanted, but Marinette cut to him. "No," was all she said. "No, kitty. We're not ready. We have lots to do yet."

He pouted like those cats you'd see in animes, but he let go. "Whatever you think is best, my lady, Marinette. I trust you more than I do myself." 

Marinette gave a smile at that, and turned to Aeon. "Could you do the honours?" 

Aeon nodded. She had an emergency service for causing amnesia, prepared just for this situation. (Just kidding.) She touched their foreheads, and the pink glow that she'd grown to love did their job underneath. 

Once she was done, Adrien and Marinette sat up, looking dazed and disoriented. The spell that loomed on like a giant dark shadow was broken by a sudden shriek by Marinette. "AdriEN!"

Aeon chuckled silently. It was good to see that some things never changed. 

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**Author's Note:**

> Based off a rewrite tag by @pixigirl on Tumblr. :) 
> 
> come talk to me on my Tumblr, @rimi-lekak uwu


End file.
